Timely Topics

2019 Washington State University Variety Testing Program PNW Crop Tour Schedule.

Dr. Xianming Chen, USDA-ARS Plant Pathologist, released his most recent Stripe Rust Update, April 18, 2019. The late winter snow cover and low temperatures combined to reduce overwintering survival of the stripe rust pathogen. Stripe rust was not detected in any commercial fields in his survey of Adams, Benton, Douglas, Franklin, Grant, Lincoln, Walla Walla, and others.

EPA Releases Residual Time to 25% Bee Mortality (RT25) Data Reducing Pesticide Hazards for Bees.

A guest post by Sanford Eigenbrode, University of Idaho.  Several years ago, we detected and reported the presence of a new aphid in wheat, Metopolophium festucae cerealium, which we are currently calling “Mfc” or “Cereal…

The long, late winter is finally giving way to spring and with that comes field work and the reality of dealing with a compressed field season.  Because of that, some are thinking how to get the most done in the shortest amount of time, so they can still make a timely seeding of their spring…

Effective, new herbicides are not as common as they once were. When we are lucky enough to have a new one come to the wheat industry, it is an exciting time for those of us involved in the management of troublesome weeds. It is particularly exciting when these new products can help us manage weeds

Episode 117 of Wheat All About It! features Randy Fortenbery, Professor and Small Grains Endowed Chair as well as the holder of the Thomas B. Mick chair in agricultural economics at Washington State University, who finds rays…

Timely Topic about spring wheat tools, including the WSU Small Grains Variety Selection Tool and the WSU Dryland Wheat Nitrogen Fertilizer Calculator to assist in finding the best wheat variety for your spring planting.

When it comes to snow (Figure 1.), most producers growing winter crops, i.e. wheat, canola and/or peas, welcome the protection that a layer of snow cover can provide especially if below freezing temperatures are in the forecast. However, snow that remains on wheat greater than 100 days can lead to the development of “Snow Mold.”

While it may not look or feel like the growing season is around the corner, soon enough it will arrive. With the growing season comes the growing problems such as diseases and pests so what should you do if you find a problem and would like a confirmation or diagnosis of the issue? Send it…

Total payments to Washington producers under the Price Loss Coverage (PLC) and Agricultural Risk Coverage (ARC) government programs for 2017 crops (paid Fall 2018) were $35,317,646. PLC payments totaled $10,898,805, and ARC payments for Washington farmers came to $24,418,841. PLC payments result when the national average marketing year price is below the PLC national reference…

Weeds, not just a five-letter word! Weeds continue to be one of the top limiting factors in annual crop production worldwide. On WSU’s small grains website, we try to give you the latest information for weed management. The most common weeds and supporting pdf’s with information about that weed can be found under the weed…

With the help of Dr. Michael Walsh, Director of Weed Research for the University of Sydney, I received a Nancy Roma Paech Visiting Professorship in Agriculture from the University of Sydney Institute of Agriculture. The professorship covered most of my expenses for a seven-week visit to Australia starting in late October of last year.

The 2018 WSU Weed Control Report is now available on the Wheat and Small Grains website. Drew Lyon and Ian Burke, WSU weed scientists, manage numerous field studies to evaluate new herbicides, and new uses of older herbicides, to manage weeds of concern to dryland farmers in eastern Washington. These studies are summarized in the annual…

Spring is in the air in some areas of the Pacific Northwest with others still under snow. Planting season is almost here, bringing with it the latest seed buying resources. The Washington State Crop Improvement…